Motorola wants to sell cellphones, make Carl Icahn happy

By Mark Allix• 13 November 2009

Famous investor Carl Icahn has been trying to get Motorola broken up for years. The company finally seems ready to do so now, with mounting reports that it is far down the line in negotiating a sale for its set-top box division. That will get it somewhere north of $4 billion for a business with increasing losses and little hope of being turned around under present management. It also wants to sell the division that makes its cellphones, while the buzz about its upcoming Droid phone makes it look worth something (which it very nearly isn't). What's left? Two-way radios and barcode scanners, mostly. Not exciting products, but Motorola is very good at making them and turning a profit in the process.Read more: Bloomberg, The Street